Islands in the Air | Page 9

you, my boy. I shall step from that island onto this one. But if
anything should happen to me--" he went on while I gazed at him in
astonishment, "you must descend. Just pull this lever down and forward
and press this--" He paused with his hand on the lever and looked at me
steadily. "But I believe I'll have you meet me" he continued, his eyes
burning and boring into mine. "It will make the test complete. Come,
Greta, let's be going." He turned and clambered into the plane.
"Hold on--you have not told me how to meet you," I reminded unable
to understand the sudden changes of his mind.
"Never mind," he said. "I'll try out my island first, then I'll send
directions by Greta."
In another moment they had zoomed into the air leaving me alone
aboard this strange contrivance of the sky.
As they winged away a sudden feeling of loneliness assailed me not
unmixed with misgivings. My eyes roved about me. I had but a vague
knowledge of the mechanism of this craft. Its bewildering array of
wheels and levers and buttons appalled me, thanks to the Professor's
foolish procrastination in teaching me their use. I wondered what
would become of me, marooned here in the air should the Professor
crash and something happen to Greta. I knew the island could not be
lowered from the ground by anyone save the Professor. I looked below
hopelessly. The workmen were only small dots, and the buildings and
equipment of the plant looked like toys.
My attention was soon diverted to the Professor and his island.

Majestically he rose into the air until he was about on a level with me.
Then I saw him hurrying about over the structure, pausing now and
then to oil and examine a machine, to adjust a lever and try a valve. I
took up the binoculars and watched him closely. I saw that he was
nervous, and the expression on his face alarmed me. His cheeks were
pale, his eyes glowing like red coals and the motions of his lips told me
he was talking rapidly to himself. I feared that the dreaded moment
long feared by Greta had come at last.
And then as I gazed I saw about half a mile beyond the Professor
something moving among the trees. Autumn was tardy in coming and
most of the timber among the evergreens still retained its foliage
though it was splashed with gold. As I watched the tops of the timber
seemed to expand, to become strangely animated. Then they appeared
to be rising to meet the sky as though they had suddenly taken on a
phenomenal growth.
I blinked, lowered the glasses and hastily wiped them with my
handkerchief. But as I placed them again to my eyes I uttered a cry of
amazement and stupefaction, for soaring above the tree tops was
another island of the sky! And this island carried trees and shrubs on its
bosom. There was grass there and flowers. At each corner and in the
center were airplane beacons the same as ours, but they were of a
brilliant hue and artistic design.

A Catastrophe
I rubbed my eyes with a trembling hand. What had come over me to
cause this hallucination? I had thought so much about this sky island
business, had lost so much sleep over it that the thing was getting the
best of my reason. I surely was seeing things. That green island over
there soaring into the blue was a mirage, a fantasy of a disordered brain.
I resolved to get a grip on myself and quit this business before it was
too late. But as I stared again the mirage persisted mockingly, grew
plainer and finally ceased its upward flight and came to rest. It was then
that I suddenly discerned a figure bobbing about near the corner

masthead--a small man with a bristling black beard. I caught my breath
with a gasp. My God, I was beholding no mirage but the devilish
handiwork of Professor Stiener's rival--Van Beck!
With sickening force the hot truth surged over me--Van Beck had
stolen a march on us, after all. He had photographed the blue print the
day Greta landed him in her plane. He had broken into the office, and
the report that he had gone abroad was a lie and a blind. He had stolen
the Professor's secret and improved it. True to form he was about to rob
the Professor of the fruits of victory. The thing was unthinkable but
there was the evidence before my eyes.
And now as I looked closer I saw another man on the green island. His
back was toward me and he was crouched over some sort of a machine.
He seemed